Missevil a Blossom contender at Woodbine

Kyle Reibeling's Missevil has certainly made her impact this season while racing at Woodbine Racetrack, and the talented filly could be in for a prosperous payday in the coming weeks. The swift pacer has banked $30,100 this season from five starts, including three wins and a second-place finish for owners Mike Timpano and Frank Cirillo.

A daughter of Armbro Deuce-Impudent, Missevil will begin from post six in the second of two $15,000 Blossom Series divisions Friday at Woodbine. The rich $30,000 (added) final will take place on Monday, April 11.

"We have the six hole in a six-horse race, so that doesn't bother me and we won't be sitting 21 lengths back like last week," Reibeling said. "It's a good series and a nice fit for her. The filly that beat her last week is in there, which makes for another great race."

Missevil qualified just once last year as a rookie before calling it a season and Reibeling took over conditioning the bay this past winter.

"I got her when she was training back this winter when I returned from Sudbury,” he said. "I don't think it was a surprise to anyone that worked with her in the past that she has the speed and desire."

So far this season, Missevil has developed an off-the-pace racing style, which is by the design of her veteran conditioner.

"She can get real hot," Reibeling said. "When we first schooled her, she was a little erratic so we made some changes to calm her down, but whether she had the speed or not was something I wasn't worried about.

"It just seems like the plan is to race her from behind and teach her," Reibeling continued. "We're obviously thinking long term with her and we are going to do right by her."

Reibeling, who is approaching $2 million in purse earnings as a conditioner, admires one key attribute about his stable star.

"Her will", he said. "She just has that tremendous will to win. She's not the biggest horse and probably not the fastest horse out there, but I don't think there's any other horse around that I've ever worked with – maybe L H Stryker- that has that killer instinct and will to win like she does. She's small but has that little engine that could."

Driver James MacDonald has been aboard Missevil in each of her five starts this season and Reibeling sees that as a perfect fit.

"James has done an excellent job with her and I couldn't ask for more," he said. "He's listened and done right by the filly and he's drove her with a lot of respect. James deserves a lot of credit."

As for the future of the Missevil, Reibeling remains optimistic about a successful summer with his speedy pacer.

"We're going to stick to the OSS and just race around here. We're confident that she can be a Gold filly this season and there is enough money in the province for us to tackle. We're going to take it week-by-week, but hopefully we have a lot of fun this summer."

The Blossom Series is for three-year-old fillies, who are non-winners of three races or $15,000 in 2013. The pair of divisions will kick off the 11-race program on Friday in races one and two. They will line up as follows: